1. Field of the Invention
The invention herein relates to devices to restrain persons so as to restrict their ability to harm themselves or others and to aid law enforcement control of law violators. More particularly, it relates to belts and belt-like devices which are worn by the person who is to be restrained.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous instances where a person who has been acting violently, has committed violent or criminal acts or is potentially dangerous must be restrained for control or to prevent him from harming himself or those around him. (For brevity herein the description of the invention will usually refer to persons as male, but it will be understood that the invention is equally applicable to female persons.) Currently there are commercial devices such as handcuffs and arm and leg shackles which are used to provide some degree of restraint.
For instance, when a violent or potentially violent criminal is taken into custody by police officers, the officers normally secure and restrain the criminal's hands with handcuffs, so that he will not endanger the officers or other people in the immediate vicinity, such as by striking out at them or obtaining a weapon with which to assault them. Similarly, there are also many times when a prisoner must be transported from one detention facility to another or to a court, and he must be restrained against possible escape or assault. There are also situations where a mentally ill person has the potential to become violent toward others, or, equally importantly, toward himself, perhaps causing himself serious self-inflicted injuries. Another common situation occurs when persons are engaged in civil disobedience and must be removed by law enforcement officers from locations where they are demonstrating; such people often refuse to cooperate with the officers and must be physically carried from the scene, which must be done without injury to them.
Commonly in such situations the person can be initially restrained with such devices as handcuffs, leg irons, waist chains with handcuffs attached, or the like. These types of restraints are normally quite effective for their intended but limited purposes.
However, in many instances a person must not only be restrained initially but must still be able to move his arms or legs with some degree of freedom. For instance, criminals taken into custody must be able to move their arms and hands to be fingerprinted or to receive medication or give blood samples, and prisoners being transported to court or detention facilities usually need to carry items such as personal possessions and court papers with them. In such cases the person restrained must also be able to walk, if only slowly, to facilitate his movements from location to location while in custody or at court. Similarly, restrained mental patients must be able to move their arms enough to receive tranquilizing medication. The conventional restraint devices, such as handcuffs and wrist and leg shackles, do not allow controlled but partial movement. Once the handcuff or shackle has been unlocked, the person's arms or legs are completely unrestrained and he can run, lash out at those around him or reach for and perhaps obtain a weapon. The escorting officers, guards or medical attendants can restrain the person's released arms or legs only by physically holding the arms or legs, which puts them in danger and which has the potential to cause physical injury to the prisoner or patient. Further, depending on the relative size and strength of the person and the escort, the person may well be able to overpower the escort once his arms and legs are freed.
Further, keeping the person restrained in the conventional handcuffs, shackles, etc., is often impractical or injurious, particularly where the restraint must be maintained for a prolonged period of time or where the person must be moved about extensively.
An experimental restraint belt was developed as an earlier part of the project which led to the present invention and was described in Law Enforcement Quarterly (February-April, 1993), pp. 25-26. This belt was of limited capability, since it did not have any facility for continuous control of a prisoner's hands while the prisoner was fingerprinted, had blood drawn, etc., nor did it permit rapid control if a prisoner attempted to bolt or attack. Its only functions were to lock a prisoners hands at his sides and permit his transport by officers. Thus, while it served an initial limited purpose and a prototype sample was considered and tested by a major metropolitan police department, it was found to be significantly limited in application and was never put into service. Clearly substantially more capacity for various restraint and control functions, and particularly the need for rapid and absolute control of a prisoner or other person to be restrained, is needed for a truly versatile device.